G.I. Joe: Retaliation Gets Moved Back NINE MONTHS

Originally scheduled for a late June release date, the Hasbro sequel shifts to late March to make room for 3D post-conversion.

[Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to note Paramount's involvement in The Avengers.]

In a shocking last minute decision, Paramount has decided to move the release date of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, originally scheduled and heavily promoted for June 29, 2012, nine months back to March 29, 2013. The shift leaves an enormous hole in Paramount's summer schedule, since Jon M. Chu's sequel was the only major releases from the company this season besides the underperforming Sacha Baron Cohen comedy The Dictator and admittedly The Avengers, which they still have some stake in. So what happened? Is it all some kind of sinister Cobra plot?

Deadline reports that Paramount has delayed the G.I. Joe: Retaliation's release due to the decision to post-convert the film to 3D, in an attempt to appeal to international audiences who are still big on the gimmick. Yes, it's odd that the idea didn't occur to them earlier. It's not like Avatar only came out a couple of weeks ago, after all.

Thanks to success of The Hunger Games, March seems like a pretty safe place to release a potential blockbuster, although it didn't do wonders for either John Carter or Wrath of the Titans. Hopefully the built-in audience for G.I. Joe – the ones who didn't hate the last movie, anyway – will come out to support the release regardless of scheduling.

CraveOnline will be back with more G.I. Joe: Retaliation news next year, apparently.